Four people, two of them women, were killed in the Nato-led raid. Nato said they were insurgents. Protesters and local police say all were civilians.

Civilians deaths at the hands of Nato forces is a major cause of anger among Afghans.

An official in Taloqan said the Afghan National Army and a rapid reaction force had been deployed and the situation was now mostly under control. Reinforcements had been called in from neighbouring Kunduz province, he said.

The official said that some of the 2,000 demonstrators were armed and had destroyed public and private property.

The violence appears to have begun when protesters angered over the night-time raid by American and Afghan forces placed the bodies of those killed in the main square of Taloqan.

Chanting "Death to America" and "Death to [President] Karzai", they were confronted by police and security forces who opened fire as they headed towards the German base.